Simple scenes and surreal poses from Japanese illustrator Noritake

The strange faces and minimal scenes in Japanese illustrator Noritake’s work are utterly charming. Working mainly in monochrome with occasional flashes of blue or peach, the work manages to distil emotions and actions into beautifully crafted one-liners. Noritake has worked on designs for clothing as well as editorial illustration projects, but it’s the advertising work we love the most – quite something considering we have no idea what we’re even being sold.

South east London-based artist and illustrator Jack Pearce’s work is easy recognisable thanks to his friendly cast of long-limbed skaters sleekly executed in clean black lines. “They are a tribe of fictional characters loosely based on myself,” Jack explains. “The antics they get up to are often ones I wish I could spend more time doing. In each series of characters lies a figure of authority, highlighted by how many extra details his hat has. Some of them don’t have a clue what’s going on, due to excess alcohol consumption.”

Thailand-based illustrator Tanawat Sakdawisarak has been a firm favourite of ours for a couple of years now for his cool, polished aesthetic. While Tanawat is still experimenting with his free form works, as seen on his Instagram, his commissioned work remains neatly constructed with fine linework and full of nuanced details. “I love to combine geometric shapes with form and pattern. I sometimes feel like my works have the same aesthetic as comics and video games I used to play,” says Tanawat.

Billy Clark’s interest in illustration was piqued when watching cartoons and reading comic books like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Spiderman. “I was fascinated with the characters and would always draw my own,” he says. Having initially studied graphic design, Billy then specialised in illustration, and this solid grounding has meant composition remains at the forefront of his mind. “I was always encouraged to loosen up my style at uni, but I don’t think I ever lost that instinct to contain and control elements in my images,” explains Billy. “I think what’s left is a balance of some neater geometric forms, along with rougher, expressive textural elements.”

Illustrator Roberts Rurans’ style is a playful mix of characters, simple shapes, textures and bright colours. “I believe it has been somewhat influenced by both street art and graphic design with its visual clarity, structure and simplifying things,” explains the illustrator.

We’ve all been to an office party, the kind where alcohol-fuelled chats with your colleagues are rife but you’re secretly keeping an eye on the door for the next round of canapés. Later, dancing and debate ensues or you head to a quieter area for a bit of gossip.